I’m not sure quite what Sir G. Boycott would have made of it, but the People’s Republic of Yorkshire was on its feet to applaud the People’s Republic of China. Kindred spirits brought together at the Crucible, Sheffield, for Zhao Xintong’s victory in the World Snooker Championship over poor Mark Williams, at 50 the oldest finalist ever in the tournament. Zhao may look too youthful to get served in the Crucible bar – though he is actually 28 – but he had the good sense to settle in Sheffield some years ago and his fluent, remorseless snooker is breathtaking.
His victory means that snooker is now properly recognised not as a homely British sport played by chubby middle-aged men in waistcoats but as a full-on part of the international sporting scene. And in China, where there are 300,000 snooker clubs and millions of players and snooker is viewed as a national sport, Zhao will become a five-star ocean-going superstar. His victory in the final was watched by more than 150 million Chinese and will doubtless open the door to millions more players across Asia who want to take up the sport.
What was remarkable about Zhao was the fact that he had scarcely played championship snooker for months following a 20-month ban for being involved in a match-fixing scandal. There’s no suggestion that he fixed anything himself, but he did have a bet or two. No Chinese player has ever won a world pool title either, so this victory is a massive breakthrough for Zhao’s country. Quite how long the Crucible would be able to hold on to staging the World Championship if China sets its mind on hosting it is another matter.
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